Uptight city accountant Michael Thompson is hired to help a family save their stable before the bank shuts them down. Michael reluctantly agrees, but as he searches for ways to save a family's legacy, he finds something he never expected.
An idealistic British drama school teacher, Jodi Rutherford, persuades a cynical South African farmer to prepare her for a role in a major film as an Afrikaans war heroine. In return Jodi undertakes to direct the annual concert on the Willemse farm. Jodi's interaction with the quirky small town citizens and the stubborn Kobus, teaches her that: "there is more to life than lights... camera... and action!"
Fitness instructor Julia is down on her luck, trying to make her baby boot camp a thriving business. To make ends meet, she becomes a part-time nanny for a single widowed father. Trouble is, she knows nothing about taking care of children.
Anne has given up trying to find a man who will fit into her sensible and controlled life. Therefore she has chosen to become pregnant with an anonymous sperm donor who has been carefully chosen. But as her hormones get the better of her she realizes that the child may come to resemble the father and possibly get his less flattering characteristics. Anne feels compelled to find the sperm donor and ensure that he is as perfect as she imagines.
Chantel Mitchell, a hip, articulate, black high-school girl in Brooklyn, is determined not to become "just another girl on the IRT" (the IRT is one of NYC's subway lines). She dreams of medical school, a family, and an escape from the generational poverty and street-corner life her friends seem to have accepted as their lot. But personal and sexual challenges confront Chantel on her way to fulfilling these dreams.
Duffy, the big man on campus, is marrying Adriana, a debutante heiress to a global wine fortune, right after they both graduate from the same prestigious university. Unfortunately, the final frat party of his college career is the night before his wedding, and there are many obstacles in his way, including a soon to be father-in-law who is less than happy with his daughter's choice.
It's Valentine's Day and Tom has big plans. He's about to get engaged and has a surprise party planned to share the good news with friends. But things take a turn for the worse. Tom returns home only to discover his girlfriend has packed up and left him. Now, instead of a surprise party, the surprise is on Tom. Fortunately, his friends are there to help him make sense of it all.
Prof. Joseph Elsner guides his protégé Frydryk Chopin through his formative years to early adulthood in Poland. The professor takes him to Paris, where he eventually comes under the wing and influence of novelist George Sand and rises to prominence in the music world, to the exclusion of his old friends and patriotic feelings towards Poland.
A rich, young beauty, Louise Durant, follows the man she loves and hopes to marry to Zurich where he studies violin at the conservatory. A piano student at the conservatory falls madly in love with Louise. The violinist loves his music first and Louise second. The pianist loves Louise first and his music second. Louise must ultimately choose which man she wants.
When the father of privileged Rosina da Silva violently dies, she decides to pass herself off as a gentile and finds employment with a family in faraway Scotland. Soon she and the family father, Charles, start a passionate secret affair.
Ying Ke-Feng, head of Peerless Manor, is an expert swordsman whose escort business transports 200,000 taels of silver to the capital each year. This year, however, he is afflicted with an infirmity that renders him unable to use his sword.
Widowers Amos and Ben plot to romantically unite Amos' daughter Luiss and Ben's son Matt by pretending to feud and forbidding the teens to associate, knowing they will resist their fathers' interference. As the two youngsters fall in love, the fathers plot to end the 'feud' by hiring a traveling showman to fake an abduction and allow Matt to 'rescue' Luisa.
American Mike Harper, sent to do business in England, moves there with his wife, Janet. But she soon becomes convinced that Mike is carrying on with his attractive new assistant, Claire. Mike also has been spending a considerable amount of time with his British bachelor buddies. Vexed and lonely, Claire hires charming antiques expert Paul to decorate the Harper home and maybe make Mike jealous in the process.
On leave, a sailor falls in love with a young lady aspiring to become a Broadway dancer, but their relationship is jeopardized by an established Broadway star, who is also enamored by him.